Author Guidelines

Thank you for considering submitting your work to the Electronic Journal of Business and Management (EJBM). To ensure a smooth and efficient review process, authors should follow the guidelines outlined below. Manuscripts must be submitted through the EJBM online Submission System.

1. General Notes to Authors

EJBM publishes scholarly work in business, management, economics, finance, entrepreneurship, marketing, innovation, digital transformation, sustainability, applied technology, and related interdisciplinary fields. Submissions must be original, unpublished, and not under consideration by another journal. EJBM accepts the following categories of manuscripts:

Original Research

This section is dedicated to rigorous empirical studies that advance management theory and business practice. Submissions should present novel datasets, innovative methodologies, and statistically robust findings. Authors must clearly articulate the contribution of the study to existing organisational literature, showing how the work fills a research gap and offers actionable managerial implications. Manuscripts submitted to this section should normally range between 6,000 and 8,000 words, excluding references.

Review Article

EJBM invites authoritative syntheses of current business and management scholarship, including systematic literature reviews, meta-analyses, and bibliometric studies. Submissions should go beyond description by critically evaluating existing paradigms, resolving inconsistencies in prior findings, and constructing a clear research agenda for the field. Review articles should generally range between 7,000 and 10,000 words, excluding references.

Perspective

This section serves as a forum for conceptual papers and expert commentaries that challenge the status quo of management thought. Perspective articles should present forward-looking arguments, new theoretical lenses, frameworks, or strategic models without necessarily requiring primary empirical data. Contributions should foster high-level debate on emerging trends and offer fresh insights into complex organisational phenomena. Perspective articles should normally range between 3,000 and 5,000 words, excluding references.

Case Study

EJBM welcomes in-depth investigations of contemporary business problems, organisational interventions, and strategic implementations. Submissions should provide rich contextual analysis that bridges academic theory and corporate reality. Authors are expected to identify transferable lessons that offer practical value to researchers, practitioners, and industry leaders. Case studies should normally range between 4,000 and 6,000 words, excluding references.

Editorial

Editorials are reserved for EJBM Editors and Guest Editors. They may address the strategic direction of the journal, introduce special issues, comment on policy developments, or highlight significant developments in business, management, economics, and related fields. Unsolicited editorial manuscripts are not accepted. Editorials should not exceed 2,500 words, excluding references.

2. Editorial Workflow

EJBM uses the PKP/Open Journal Systems (OJS) platform to manage submission, editorial screening, peer review, revision, and publication.

EJBM operates a double-blind peer-review process. Authors do not know the identities of reviewers, and reviewers do not know the identities of authors. Authors must remove identifying information from the manuscript file before submission. The editorial office may return manuscripts that are not properly anonymised. Every manuscript submitted to EJBM undergoes the following editorial workflow:

A manuscript is submitted to the journal by the corresponding author.
The Editor-in-Chief reviews the manuscript to determine its suitability for review and assigns it to a Section Editor based on subject area.
The Section Editor oversees the review process and assigns the manuscript to at least two qualified external reviewers, ensuring that no conflict of interest exists.
Reviewers evaluate the manuscript in accordance with the journal’s publication standards and ethical requirements.
The Section Editor reviews the reports and provides a recommendation to the Editor-in-Chief.
Based on the reviewers’ reports and the Section Editor’s recommendation, the Editor-in-Chief makes one of the following decisions:
- Accept: The manuscript is accepted for publication.
- Minor revisions: Authors are requested to revise the manuscript within a specified period and submit a detailed response to reviewers’ comments.
- Major revisions: The revised manuscript may be reviewed again by the Section Editor and/or the original reviewers.
- Resubmit for Further Review: The journal may reconsider the manuscript after significant revision and further evaluation.
- Reject: Rejection is typically due to methodological, scientific, ethical, or scope-related concerns. Reasons for rejection are communicated to the authors.

The Editor-in-Chief has the authority to approve a manuscript for publication. Section Editors recommend acceptance to the Editor-in-Chief.

3. Manuscript Preparation

Manuscripts should be prepared in Microsoft Word format: .doc or .docx. LaTeX submissions may be considered where appropriate, but the final submission file must comply with journal requirements. Authors should prepare manuscripts in clear academic English. Manuscripts should be concise, well-structured, and appropriate to the article category. Each manuscript should include:

paper title;
full author names;
complete institutional affiliations;
valid email addresses for all authors;
ORCID iDs, where available;
abstract;
keywords;
main text;
declarations;
references.

4. Abstract and Keywords

The abstract should be self-contained and should not exceed 250 words. It should summarise the purpose, methodology, major findings, and conclusions of the study. No citations should appear in the abstract. Authors should provide three to six keywords, separated by semi-colon. Where applicable, authors may include one Sustainable Development Goal-related keyword.

5. Manuscript Structure

Research manuscripts should normally follow this structure:

Introduction: Present the background, objectives, and significance of the study clearly and succinctly. Explain the context of the problem, the motivation for the research, and the intended contribution to the field.
Literature Review: Provide a concise and critical overview of relevant scholarly work. Summarise existing theories, models, or empirical findings related to the topic. Highlight gaps, limitations, or inconsistencies in previous research that justify the need for the study.
Materials and Methods / Methods / Methodology: Provide sufficient detail to allow replication of the study. Describe materials, procedures, instruments, data collection methods, and analytical techniques. Subsections may be used for clarity.
Results and Discussion: Present and interpret the research findings in a clear and logical manner. Discuss how the results align or contrast with previous studies. Subheadings may be used where appropriate.
Conclusion: Summarise the main outcomes, significance, and relevance of the work. Emphasise implications, limitations, and possible directions for future research.
Declarations: Include acknowledgements, funding statement, data availability statement, conflict of interest statement, ethical approval statement, and informed consent statement, where applicable.
References: All references must be complete and accurate.

Review articles, perspective papers, case studies, and editorials may adapt this structure where appropriate to the manuscript type.

6. Figures and Tables

All figures and tables should be cited consecutively in the text. Figures should be clear and of publishable quality. Acceptable formats include vector files such as AI, EPS, WMF, or PowerPoint, and bitmap files such as TIFF, GIF, or JPEG. A minimum resolution of 300 dpi is recommended. Each figure should have a descriptive caption. Tables should be numbered consecutively and include descriptive titles. Units must be provided in column headings where applicable. Authors should use the International System of Units (SI) consistently throughout the manuscript.

7. Referencing Style

The APA 7th Edition referencing style is required for EJBM publications. All in-text citations and reference-list entries must be accurate, complete, and consistent. Authors are responsible for ensuring that all cited sources appear in the reference list and that all reference-list entries are cited in the manuscript. APA referencing guidance is available at: https://library.apiit.edu.my/apa-referencing

8. Ethical Considerations

Authors must ensure that their manuscripts comply with recognised standards of research ethics and publication integrity.

Originality: Manuscripts must be original, unpublished, and not under consideration elsewhere.
Plagiarism: All submissions are checked for plagiarism using iThenticate or other appropriate tools. Proper acknowledgement of others’ work is mandatory.
Conflict of Interest: Authors must disclose any actual or potential conflict of interest.
Ethical Approval: Studies involving human participants, animals, personal data, sensitive information, or institutional permissions must provide ethical clearance details and approval numbers, where applicable.
Authorship: All listed authors must have made a meaningful scholarly contribution to the work and must approve the final manuscript before submission.

9. Artificial Intelligence Use

Authors must disclose any use of artificial intelligence tools in manuscript preparation, including language editing, translation, summarisation, data analysis, image generation, or content assistance. AI tools must not be listed as authors. Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and ethical compliance of the submitted manuscript.

10. Submission Process

Manuscripts must be submitted through the EJBM online submission system on the OJS platform:
https://ejbm.apu.edu.my/index.php/EJBM/about/submissions. Submissions must be made by one of the listed authors, who will act as the corresponding author and remain responsible throughout the review and publication process. Only Word files (.doc or .docx) are accepted for submission. Authors may download the EJBM manuscript template for guidance. Before submission, authors should ensure that:

the manuscript fits the aims and scope of EJBM;
the manuscript is original and not under consideration elsewhere;
all authors have approved the submission;
author names, affiliations, emails, and ORCID iDs are complete and accurate;
the manuscript follows APA 7th Edition style;
figures and tables are properly numbered and cited;
all required declarations are included;
permissions have been obtained for any third-party copyrighted material.

11. Review and Revision Process

All manuscripts submitted to EJBM undergo double-blind peer review, in which authors do not know the identities of the reviewers, and reviewers do not know the identities of the authors. Authors invited to revise a manuscript must address all reviewers’ and editors’ comments carefully and submit the revised version within the specified time frame. Where required, authors must submit:

a revised manuscript;
a point-by-point response to reviewers’ and editors’ comments;
a marked or highlighted version showing the major changes made.

The Editor-in-Chief makes the final publication decision based on the reviewers’ reports, the Section Editor’s recommendation, and the quality of the revised manuscript.

12. Copyright and Licensing

Authors retain full copyright of their work. EJBM holds the right of first publication. All articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). This allows use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

13. Open Access and Publication Fees

EJBM is an open access journal. All articles are freely available online without subscription or access charges, in accordance with the Budapest Open Access Initiative. EJBM does not charge submission fees, article processing charges, peer-review fees, page charges, publication fees, or hidden fees.